Finance committee  When you talk about this kind of situation, obviously, larger corporations generally tend to have a bit more of an ability to take advantage of those kinds of opportunities, to shift the profits or whatever, to move their operations across borders and things like that. Small businesses are obviously not in a position to be able to do that, at least not often.

Finance committee  Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate your being here. I want to ask you a little bit about an issue relating to the so-called dividends that the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation is paying out to government revenues—almost $6 billion over the last couple of years. What that essentially is telling us is that we're seeing homeowners paying far bigger premiums than necessary and are seeing $6 billion flowing to government.

Finance committee  You're obviously saying it would provide some stimulus to the economy. It likely would also increase tax revenue, I suppose, as a result. Would it not?

Finance committee  All right. Let me ask about some of the differences we're seeing in the tax rates for businesses and corporations here in Canada as compared to the United States. Your report said that we receive about $500 million less in tax revenue on average as a result of some companies shifting their investments out of Canada and into the United States.

Finance committee  Thank you. In terms of this B-20 test, though, I think it also applies when someone is renewing a mortgage, and I guess we probably haven't had much opportunity to see the impacts there yet. Certainly, we can tie people into situations where they're actually going to have to pay a greater rate for their mortgage, because what happens of course is that if they're not able to qualify under that new test, they can't move to a different lender.

Finance committee  Can I ask, then, on that question—

Finance committee  It's a really brief one. I understand that you're saying it's not something you would look at. Might it be something that would be worthwhile for us to look at? Would you say that it would be a question worth our consideration?

Finance committee  Thanks, Mr. Chair. I appreciate your being here and giving us your update today. I want to touch on one of the items you mentioned in your opening comments in regard to consumer debt. You mentioned specifically the B-20 mortgage guidelines. I want to touch on those a little bit.

Finance committee  Thank you. Hopefully I'll have time to get to a couple more witnesses here. I guess it will only be one. I'll go to the FCM. I had some questions for Food and Beverage Canada, but we'll have to save that for after the meeting. I've had a lot of concerns from a lot of municipalities in my area about the marijuana legalization and the impacts that are being downloaded on them.

Finance committee  Thanks. I'll start with the Real Estate Association and go back to the stress test. I guess, really, when you look at the effect it has had, in combination with some of the other changes that were made, it made it more difficult, particularly for first-time or young buyers, to be able to even save a down payment and get into the market.

Finance committee  I'll again use my example. Are you suggesting that Banff be specifically broken out of a bigger region? Is that the kind of example you're suggesting?

Finance committee  To go back to the broad economic regions, just to be clear of what you're suggesting, I know there have been some exemptions given. I think Yukon received one for specific areas. Are you suggesting that—

Finance committee  Thank you. Do I still have time?

Finance committee  I'll try to be as brief as I can. You touched on marketing as well and used Australia as an example. Another comparison we can use is that of the United States. They have a very different model, Brand USA, and essentially no taxpayer dollars go into that. Can you give us a brief explanation of how that works and what your thoughts would be on that kind of a model for Canada?

Finance committee  Yes.